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Lab Construction Traffic Delays Requires Adjustment of Bus Schedule

March 4, 2013

Due to construction activity, the speed limit at the Lab was reduced to 15 mph. As a result, the Blue shuttle bus route has been unable to maintain stops every 10 minutes. Until further notice, this route will operate in 12-minute increments. NextBus will be adjusted to reflect this change.

There are two problems with the Blue Line right now. One is the construction delays and the other is the overcrowding of the buses that occurs at certain times (particularly during the 8 o’clock hour in the morning). While I very much appreciate the good-faith efforts being made to solve these problems, I don’t think it solves either problem. Arguably, it makes the overcrowding problem worse.

Having a Blue shuttle run every 12 minutes means fewer buses per hour, which means that there will be more overcrowding and more people will get left at stops during rush hours. In addition, staggering the buses to a scheduled 12-minute headway doesn’t reduce the delays, it just gives the appearance of the bus being on time. It still means that it takes longer for us to get to work, and more difficulty making public-transit connections.

May I suggest that we instead try the following: (a) Ask the Bay Area Traffic Services folks to give the buses priority when managing the traffic flows around the Building 59 construction site. (b) Place extra buses on the Blue Line during rush hour (as opposed to the van that currently tries to mop up after the main Blue bus gets overcrowded and can’t take any more passengers). (c) Change the routes a bit: Instead of terminating at Building 62, what if Orange were to do an express down to 54 or even the fire station? That would allow more people to ride Orange, reduce the pressure on Blue, and have more people avoid the construction delays.